Wringer mechanism



Dec. 6, 1960 c. l. PLATT 2, ,837

WRINGER MECHANISM Filed Jan. 8, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. CLARK I.PLATT ATTORNEYS Dec. 6, 1960 c. l. PLATI' WRINGER MECHANISM 5Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 8. 1957 INVENTOR.

CLARK I. PLATT ATTORNEYS Dec. 6, 1960 1. PLATT WRINGER MECHANISM 5Sheets-Sheet .5

Filed Jan. 8, 1957 INVENTOR. I PLATT CLARK ATT R N EYS INVENTOR. I.PLATT CLARK C. I. PLATT WRINGER MECHANISM vl +1 Y 1| IIIH .HINIQ 7 OHJIIIU O u .n B w JI 1| F HH. 5%: m: AW 09 9:

Dec. 6, 1960 Filed Jan. 8, 1957 ATTO RNEYS Dec. 6, 1960 c. I. PLATT2,962,887

WRINGER MECHANISM Filed Jan. 8, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTO'R. CLARKI. PLATT E9 was ATTORNEYS United States atctlt O 2,962,887 WRINGERMECHANISM Clark I. Platt, Benton Harbor, Mich., assignor to WhirlpoolCorporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed Jan. 8, 1957, Ser. No.633,048 Claims. (Cl. 68-253) The present invention relates toimprovements in clothes wringers and more spec.fically to mechanism forcontrolling the positioning, pressure, release, and operation of therolls of a clothes wringer.

In home laundry operations, one way of removing moisture from articlesof clothing and garments after they have been washed, is to pass thembetween pressure rolls whereby the moisture is squeezed from thegarments. The rolls are generally in the form' of cylindrical,softsurfaced, rotatably supported elements which are pressed together sothat the pressure will be applied to the articles of fabric that arecarried between the rotating rollers. Power control means are usuallysupplied for starting, stopping and reversing the rotation of therollers. A mechanism is also frequently present for setting the wringerroll pressure, which will determine the pressure applied to the fabricarticles as they pass between the rolls.

For safety purposes, an emergency release device is utilized whichreleases the rolls and permits them to freely separate. This is usedwhen the operator is in danger of being caught by the rolls or whenexcessively thick articles are moving through the rolls and will notpass. After the operation of the emergency release mechanism it isfrequently necessary to perform a number of complicated operations torestore the wringer to operating condition. These restoring operationsinclude readjustmen-t of the wringer pressure device.

An object of the present invention is to provide improved operating andcontrol mechanisms which perform the functions referred to above, whichwill operate in a simplified and improved manner.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved rollpositioning means which will determine the wringer roll pressure byconsistently and uniformly establishing the location of resilient rollsupports. Another object of the invention is to provide an improvedwringer operating mechanism wherein the initial wringer roll pressurewill be preset during the latching operation after the wringer rollshave been released.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improvedsetting mechanism for setting the wringer rolls to latched operatingposition.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved safetyemergency release mechanism.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved clothes wringer forhome laundry machines which has en hanced safety features and includesan automatic device for stopping the rolls when the emergency rollrelease is operated, thus halting the rotation of the rolls.

A further object of the invention is to provide a positive acting camarrangement for setting the roll positions and establishing the wringerroll pressure.

Other objects and advantages will become more ap parent with theteachings of the features and principles of the invention in connectionwith the disclosure of the preferred embodiment as described anddisclosed in the specification and claims and as illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an exploded view in perspective illustrating the arrangementof the roll pressure setting mechanism;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view showing the interior constructionof the free or unsupported end of the wringer with the view takensubstant.ally along line 11-11 of Figure 6;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along line IIIIII of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken along line lVIV of Figure2;

F.gure 5 is a vertical sectional view taken along line V-V of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is a vertical sectional view taken along line VIVI of Figure 7;

Figure 7 is a plan view of the wringer assembly with the rolls and otherparts removed to illustrate the emergency release mechanism;

Figure 8 is a hor.zontal sectional view in enlarged fragmentary form, ofcontrol means for the wringer;

Figure 9 l8 a vertical sectional view, partly in elevation, taken alongline IX-IX of Figure 8; and

Figure 10 is a detailed elevational view taken from the end of thewringer control with the handle removed to illustrate features of detailof the mechanism for latching and releasing the rotation control.

While the description and drawings illustrate elements of the inventionin a specific embodiment, it will be understood that features of theinvention may be utilized in other environments and forms withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention and making use ofthe advantages afforded by the invention. The description of the varioussections of the wringer will be divided in accordance with the relativefunction and structure of the sections to the operation as a whole.

Wringer assembly Figure 1 primarily illustrates the elements of thewringer assembly for positioning the rolls relative to each other to setthe pressure between them. The rolls are shown at 12 and 14 as being ofa conventional type covered with a soft resilient material and beingcylindrical in shape. The lower roll is provided with a rollsupportingaxle having projecting ends 16 and 18 which will be suitably mounted inbearings fixedly supported in the element 20a of the wringer frame 20.The end 18 of the axle is provided with a cross driving pin 22 forrotation of the rolls from a power means as will be described later.

The upper roll 12 is similarly covered with a soft resilient materialand is rotatably supported on an axle which rotates parallel to the axleof the lower roll 14, and which has ends 24 and 26 to be rotatablysupported in movable bearings 27 and 31. These bearings are resilientlycarried in bearing cages 33 and 35, cage 35 being reversed from theposition shown when assembled on the wringer. The entire bearing cagesare movable between a release position wherein the rolls 12 and 14 arepermitted to freely separate and a wringer operating position. At thewringer operating position a portion of the cage is pulled downwardly toa predetermined posi tion to apply a predetermined spring tension to thebearings to urge the rolls 12 and 14 together.

For releasing the bearing cages or moving the setting portion to wringeroperating position, a bearing positioning means is provided shown in theform of a pressure fork assembly 28. The pressure fork assembly operatesas a bearing positioning means by the cam surfaces 30 and 32 on the fork34 at one end of the assembly, and the cam surfaces 36 and 38 on thefork 40 at the other end of the assembly. Both the forks are attached tothe connecting rod 42. The cam surfaces are engageable with rollers andcam surfaces 30 and 32 engage rollers 44 and 45 mounted on the bearingcage 35 and cam surface 36 engages the roller 46 mounted on bearing cage33, with cam surface 38 engaging a similar roller (not shown). Mechanismfor accomplishing horizontal reciprocation of the pressure fork assemblyto force the bearing cages to wringer operating position includes thesetting cam 48 which will be later described in detail in connectionwith the section devoted to the roll tensioning and release mechanism.

Roll tensiom'ng and release mechanism As best shown in Figures 2, 5 and9, the lower roll 14 is rotatably supported on its end shafts 16 and 18by bearings 50, for the left endJas shown in Figures 2 and 5, and 52,for the right end as shown in Figure 9. The bearings are fixedly carriedby the frame 20. The upper roll 12 is controlled between a releaseposition wherein it may be freely moved from the lower roll 14, and awringer operating position wherein it is subjected to a predeterminedpressure to urge it against the lower roll 14. The upper roll, aspreviously described in connection with Figure l, is supported on itsshafts 24 and 26 in bearings 27 and 31 carried in the bearing cages 33and 35. The support 29 for the bearing 27 of bearing cage 33 for theleft hand shaft 24 of the upper roller 12 is urged downwardly to tensionthe roll 12 against the roll 14 by a pair of coil compression springs 54and 56, as shown in Figure 5, when the bearing cage is set to operatingposition.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 5, the support 29, for the bearing 27 is in theshape of a cross bar pulled downwardly by a pair of bolts 31a and 33a.Tension is placed on the bolts by the coiled compress'on springs 54 and56 which bear against the bolt heads 35a and 37, at their lower ends..

The upper ends of the springs are pushed downwardly by the movableoperator plate 39 of the bearing cage. This operator plate has ears 41and 43 at the top which have holes to slide over the bolts 31a and 33aand which push downwardly on the springs 54 and 56 to tension them andcause them to force the upper roll 12 against the lower roll.

To push the operator plate downwardly to tension the springs, therollers 46 and 47 at the face of the plate are forced downwardly by thepressure fork 40. The fork moves the plate to a predetermined positionto fix the pressure between the rolls and 1 2 The cage 35, for the rightend of the upper wringer roll 12, as shown in Figures 1, 8 and 9, isconstructed and operates similarly to the left cage 33 and need not bedescribed in detail. That is, the bearing 31 for the shaft end 26 at theright end of the roll is supported by a bar which is pulled downwardlyby bolts 51 and 53 urged downwardly by coil springs 58 and 59. Thesprings are tensioned by the operator plate which is pulled downwardlyby the fork 34 acting on the rollers 44 and 45 carried on the operatorplate.

As described in connection with Figure 1, the upper roll 12 is pulleddown against the action of the springs 54, 56, 58, 59 by the pressurefork assembly 28. The pressure fork assembly 28 is slidably mounted inthe wringer frame for horizontal lateral reciprocation. The pressurefork assembly 28 is held to permit horizontal sliding and to preventvertical displacement in the frame, and each of the forks havedownwardly inclined cam surfaces which push downwardly on the rollers inthe bearing cages to move the upper roller 12 to wringer operatmgposition. As may be viewed in Figures 1 and 2, the left fork 40 hasleading cam surfaces 36 and 38 which bear downwardly on rollers such asindicated at 46. The fork at the right end of the wringer assembly,shown at 34, has leading cam surfaces 30 and 32, which engage and forcedownwardly on rollers 44 and 45, as may be seen in Figures 1 and 8.

As is shown in Figures 2 and 8, the rollers 47 and 45.

are cammed downwardly by the fork cam surfaces 38 and 30 to bring therolls 14 and 12 together. The fork assembly 28 has moved from the rollrelease position where the cam surfaces release the rollers to thewringer operating position. Since the bearings supporting the lower rollare fixed in position, when the bearings supporting the upper roll 12are moved downwardly to a fixed position as determined by the locationof the pressure forks 34 and 40, the spacing between the rolls will beset and the rolls will be in a spring biased position.

The pressure fork assembly is urged to roll release position, or to theleft QSJShOWIl in Figures 2, 4 and 8, by a coil compression spring 64,which is compressed between the frame and the fork 40, and encircles theconnecting rod 42 of the fork assembly.

The pressure fork assembly is moved to wringer operating position .bythe action of the setting cam 48, as shown in Figures 1 and 2. Thesetting cam is supported on a mounting pin 68 which extends across thelegs of a bracket 70 that is secured to the wringer frame 20 in themanner shown in Figure 4. The setting cam 48 has acam tip 72which-engages the heel plate 74 of the pressure fork 40. The settingcammoves between the solid line position of Figure 2 and the dotted lineposition of that figure to set the pressure fork assembly to wringeroperating position.

To pivot the setting cam 48, the setting handle 76 is manually pulledfrom the solid line position of Figure 2 to the dotted line position.The setting handle 76 is pivotally supported on a mounting pin 78 whichextends between the arms of the bracket 70. The setting handle isconnected to the setting cam 48 by setting handle link 80. The link 80is pivotallyattached to the setting cam 48 by connecting pin 82 and isslidably attached to the setting handle by actuator portions 84, 84. Theactuator portions 84, 84 slide in the slots 86 and 88 provided by theconfiguration of the setting handle as is illustrated in Figure 3.

in moving the setting handle 76 from the solid to the dotted lineposition, the link 80 pulls the setting cam 48 to the dotted lineposition of Figure 2, and the cam point 72 pushes the pressure forkassembly to the right to move it to wringer operating position. When itreaches wringer operating position, it is held in that position by thelatch members 90 and 91 dropping into the notches 92 and 93 in the fork40.

The latch 91 is part of the latch plate 94, as shown in Figures 2 and 6.The latch plate 94 carries two latching fingers 90 and 91 which dropinto notches 92 and 93 on each side of the fork 40. The latch plate isurged to latching position by a coil tension spring 96, which hooks to aprojecting ear 98 on the latch plate and is suspended at its top endfrom a projecting car 100 which is part of the bracket 70 secured to thewringer frame 20.

As may be viewed in Figures 2 and 4, the bracket 70 is secured to theframe 20 as by rivets 102, 102, and 104, 104.

As may be viewed in Figure 6, the bracket has inwardly bent guiding tabs106 and 108 at its upper end and 110 and 112 at its lower end to providea guide for holding the latch plate 94 in its vertical reciprocationbetween latching and unlatching position.

As viewed in Figures 2 and 6, the latching plate is in latched positionwherein the latching fingers 90 and 91 are in the slots 92 and 93 in thepressure fork 40.

Emergency release mechanism When the pressure fork assembly 28 islatched in the wringer operating position, the bearing cages 33 and 35are held downwardly. In the event an unusually heavy article ofclothing, or in the event the operator is in danger of being caughtbetween the rolls, means are provided whereby the latch plate 94 isdriven downwardly to unlatch and release the pressure fork assemblywhereby the upper roll 12 may be freed to move upwardly.

' As illustrated in Figures 2, 6 and 7, the latch plate 94 carries anoutwardly projecting releasing arm 114. When a downward pressure isapplied to the arm 114, the entire latch plate is pressed downwardly torelease the pressure fork assembly whereupon it is driven to releaseposition by spring 64 and by the angle of the cam surfaces 30, 32, 36and 38.

The latch release arm 114 is pressed downwardly by either lever arm 116or 118, as is shown in Figures 6 and 7. The lever arms 116 and 118 aresupported on pivotal shafts 120 and 122, which are supported on thewringer frame 20.

For purposes of rocking the lever arms 116 or 118 to force their innerends 124 and 126 down against the latch release arm 114, connectingplates 128 and 130 are secured to the outer end of the lever arms andare moved up and down to pivot the lever arms. The plates 128 and 130are pivotally supported on the ends opposite the lever arms 116 and 118,as may be viewed in Figure 7, on the lower ends of the rocker arms 136and 142 which are pivotally supported on the pivot support pins 131 and132. Rocker arms 134 and 140 are also connected to the plates 128 and130 and are pivotally supported on shafts 120 and 122.

The plates 128 and 130 are rocked up and down about their support pins120, 131 and 122, 132 by U-shaped rocker arms. Plate 128 is operated byrocker arms 134 and 136, with arm 134 being pivoted on pin 120 and arm136 being pivoted on pin 131. The rocker arms are pivoted by a manuallyaccessible release bar 138, which extends across and is attached to theupper ends of the rocker arms 134 and 136. To operate the connectingplate 130 on the other side of the wringer frame, rocker arms 140 and142 are pivotally supported on pins 122 and 132 and are connected attheir lower ends to the plate 130. The upper end of the rocker arms 140and 142 is connected to a manually accessible release bar 144.

The release bars 138 and 144 are conveniently mounted for access fromeither side of the wringer somewhere near the top of the wringer inorder to be accessible to the operator for an emergency release. This isillustrated in Figure 7, wherein the release bars 138 and 144 aremounted above the drain boards 146 and 148, which are at the base of thewringer.

The release bars 138 and 144 may be either pushed inwardly or pulledoutwardly to operate the latch plate 94 and release the latch. For thispurpose, the rocker arms 134 and 140, at the left end of the wringer,are connected to each other by a connecting link 150 and the rocker arms136 and 142 are connected to each other at the right end of the machineby connecting link 152. Link 150 is pivo-tally connected to the arms byrivets 154 and 156 and link 152 is connected to its rocker arms byrivets 158 and 160. With this association, when release bar 144 ispulled outwardly away from the wringer, release bar 138 will be movedinwardly and when release bar 138 is pulled outwardly, release bar 144will be pulled inwardly.

.As may be viewed in Figure 6, when release bar 144 is pulled outwardly,rocker arm 140 is pivoted to the right, and rocker arm 134 is alsopivoted to the right or in a clockwise direction. This pivots therelease lever 116 downwardly against the release arm 114 to bring thelatch plate 94 downwardly and release the latch. When re lease bar 138is moved outwardly, release bar 144 is pulled inwardly and the rockerarms 140 and 142 will pivot to the left or in a counter-clockwisedirection and lever arm 118 will perform the tripping operation movingdownwardly on arm 114, while the other lever 116 moves upwardly awayfrom it. Thus, either arm 116 or 118 will trip the latch, operated bythe respective bars 138 or 144 moving inwardly.

, Automatic roll stop reference to Figures 8, 9 and 10, it will beobserved'that the lower roll is driven'by a rotating hub 164 whichslides over the shaft 18 and connects to the driving pin 22 in drivingrelationship therewith. The hub 164 is driven by a suitable geararrangement within the gear housing 166. Power is supplied from a powerdrive means through the hollow support tube 168 for supporting thewringer and a conventional drive shaft, not shown, passes up into thegear housing 166.

Within the gear housing is a suitable clutch and drive mechanism whichis operative to drive the rolls in either a forward or a reversedirection, or to stop the rolls. For purposes of operating the clutchand control mechanism, a control handle 169 is provided mounted on acontrol shaft 170, as shown in Figures 8 and 9.

The control shaft 170 carries a disc plate 172 which, as viewed inFigure 10, carries diametrically opposed projections 174 and 176. Theseprojections drop into a notch 178 in the control locking arm 180.

The control locking arm 180 is pivotally mounted on a support pin 182mounted on the frame, and the locking arm 180 is urged toward lockingposition by a tension spring 184 connected between it and the frame.

When the control handle 169 is rotated through 90 to set the controlgearing within the gear box 166 to drive the wringer in either a forwardor a reverse direction, depending on the arrangement of the controls,the projection 174 will be caught in the notch 178 of the controllocking arm to hold the control handle 169 in this position. The controlhandle, however, is continually being urged toward neutral position,wherein the machine will stop, by coil tension spring secured between anear 192 on the disc 172 and a bracket 194 on the gear housing 166. Itwill be observed that when the control handle is rotated from theneutral position, in the opposite direction, or clockwise as shown inFigure 10, the projection 176 will drop into the notch 178 in thecontrol locking arm 180. The spring 190, however, will still tend tothrow the control handle back to the neutral position. In the presentcontrol arrangement, apparatus is provided for automatically stoppingoperation of the rolls whenever the emergency release mechanism isoperated. That is, whenever the release bars 138 or 144 are pulled orpushed, to release the latch and permit the pressure fork assembly toreturn to release position, the control handle 169 will also be returnedto neutral to stop the rolls.

For this purpose, as illustrated in Figures 8 and 9, the fork 34 hasconnected to it a roll stop arm 196. This roll stop arm is bent at itsend 198 at right angles to the body of the arm to enter an opening 200in the side of the fork 34 to thereby be connected to the fork.

The other end of the roll stop arm 196 is shaped to form a cam whichwill operate the control locking arm 180, as shown in Figure 10, torelease the control disc 172.

The cam end 202 of the stop rod 196, projects through a slot 204 in thecontrol locking arm 180. The extreme end 202 of the roll stop rod isoffset from the inner portion of the end 206 so that when the rod .196is moved axially to the left, as viewed in Figures 8 and 9, the controllocking arm, will be pivoted in a counter clockwise direction, as shownin Figure 10, to thereby release the control disc 172 and permit thecontrol handle and the controls to snap back to neutral position tothereby stop the rolls.

Since the roll stop rod 196 is connected directly to the pressure forkassembly, this will occur" immediately when the pressure fork isunlatched. It will, of course, be recognized that the control handlerelease could be operated more directly from the release assembly oroperated independently of the pressure fork assembly.

Operation of mechanism 7. mission shaft leading into a gear box 166,shown in Figure 9. Control of the operation of the rolls through asuitable clutching means is obtained by rotation of the control handle169 to neutral, reverse or forward position.

When the operator wishes to release the wringer rolls 12 and 14 in orderthat they may be moved apart, either of the release bars 138 or 1 54 ispushed or pulled toward or away from the machine, as shown in Figure 6.This pivots the rocker arms 134 and 136, which are tied to rocker arms140 and 142 by the links 150 and 152, as shown in Figure 7.

Pivotalmovement of these rocker arms raises up on either of the plates128 or 130 to thereby pivot the inner ends 124 or 126 of the lever arms116 or 118 downwardly on the trip arm 114, to move the latch plate 94downwardly and release the pressure fork assembly 28.

As may be viewed in Figures 2 and 6, the latch fingers 9i) and 91 movedownwardly out of the slots 92 and 93 to release the fork assembly 28.The fork assembly snaps to its release position releasing the cages 33and 35 which carry the bearings supporting the upper roll 12 for theirspring loading.

As the pressure fork assembly 28 moves to the left, as shown in thedrawings, the roll stop rod 1%, Figures 8 and 9, is also pulled to theleft and the offset end 202 cams the control locking arm 130 outwardlyto release the control disc 172, as also shown in Figure 10. Thisreleases the shaft 170, on which is mounted the control handle 169, andthe spring 190 will pull the controls back to the neutral position toimmediately stop the rolls.

To reset the rolls and bring them back together in wringer operatingposition, the setting handle 76 is pivoted outwardly, as shown in Figure2, from its position over the end of the wringer to the dotted lineposition away from the wringer. This causes the link 84 to pivot thesetting cam 48 from the solid line to the dotted line position. Thesetting cam has a lower cam end 72, which pushes inwardly on the heel'74 of the pressure fork 40, thereby forcing the pressure fork assemblyinwardly to again bring down the bearing cages 33 and 35 and pull theupper roll 12 against the lower roll 14. This presets the initialwringer roll pressure and the pressure fork as sembly is again latchedin wringer operating position by the latch fingers 90 and 91 dropping inthe slots in the fork 4d. The setting handle is then moved back to itsreturn position where it hides the setting cam and resetting linkage.

As the pressure fork assembly 28 is returned to its wringer operatingposition, the roll stop rod will also be again moved to the right, asshown in Figures 8 and 9 to permit the control locking arm 180 to returnto its normal position where it will again be able to hold the controldisc 1'72 in operating position.

During the time that the roll stop rod 196 has been pulled to the left,the control handle 16) may be temporarily moved to operating position tojog the rollers forward or in reverse, but cannot be left in thatposition since the control locking arm will be held in non-lockingposition.

Thus, it will be seen that I have provided an improved wringer andcontrol and operating assembly which meets the objectives and advantageshereinbcfore set forth. The mechanism provides an emergency releasearrange ment wherein the rolls are immediately released to be removed toseparated positions. The release mechanism is simple and certain tooperate and can be operated in a plurality of directions from eitherside of the machine. Incident to the releasing of the rolls, the rollsare automatically and immediately stopped from rotating to enhance thesafety of the arrangement.

The reset mechanism resets the apparatus and simul-i taneously places aninitial wringer roll pressure on the rolls during the latchingoperation. This mechanism is simple and effective and when the pressurefork as'sem:

8 My is reset, the operation controls, can again be operated in a normalmanner.

The pressure fork assembly is rigid and certain in operation andconstruction and effectively resets and locks the-wringer rolls in theirspring biased position.

I have, in the drawings and specification, presented a detaileddisclosure of the preferred embodiment of my invention, but it is to beunderstood that I do not intend to limit the invention to the specificform disclosed, but intend to cover all modifications, changes andalternative constructions falling within the scope of the principlestaught by my invention.

1 claim as my invention:

1. In a wringer mechanism the combination of a pair of cylindricalwringer rolls adapted for simultaneous rotation about parallel axes,means for rotating the rolls, first roll supporting bearings at the endsof one of the rolls, second roll supporting bearings at the ends of theother roll, means for fixedly supporting said first bearings, movablemeans for supporting the bearings of the second roll, cam setting meansmovable in a linear path at right angles to the path of movement of therolls in separating from each other and movable between a roll releaseposition and a roll operating position, spring means on said movablemeans positioned to engage said second roll supporting bearings to urgethe rolls together, elongated inclined cam surfaces on each end of saidcam setting means positioned to engage the movable means and cam saidmovable means to apply pressure to the second roll supporting bearingsthrough said spring means, power drive means for rotating the rolls, adrive engaging member rotatable to engage or disengage the drive, alatch adapted to lock or release the drive engaging member in drivingposition, spring means urging the latch to latched position, and arelease rod having one end connected to said cam setting means andmovable linearly therewith and the other end cam shaped to engage saidlatch and move it to release position when said cam setting means movesto release position.

2. In a wringer mechanism having a support structure and including apair of wringer rolls, a bearing means for one of said rolls fixedlysecured to said support structure, a bearing means for the other of saidrolls movably supported on said support structure, bearing positioningmeans having a heel plate and cam means adapted to slidably engage thebearing means for the other of said rolls and movable between a firstrelease position out of the path of movement of said bearing means and asecond position in engagement with said bearing means, means urging saidbearing means for the other of said rolls to a position wherein saidrolls are in relatively pressure free relation, said bearing positioningmeans being adapted to move said bearing means for the other of saidrolls to a position wherein said rolls are in predetermined pressurerelationship when said bearing posi-. tioning means are in the secondposition thereof, spring means bearing against said heel plate andbiasing said bearing positioning means to said first release position, acam pivoted to said support structure and adapted to cam said heel plateand said bearing positioning means to said second position, a handlepivotally mounted on said support structure, and a handle link slidablyconnected to said handle and pivotally connected to said cam and causingsaid cam to move said bearing positioning member to said second positionwhen said handle is pivoted in a predetermined direction relative tosaid support structure.

3. In a wringer mechanism having a support structure and a pair ofwringer rolls, bearing means for one of said rolls fixedly secured onsaid support structure, bearing means for the other of said rollsincluding a bearing cage slidably disposed in said support structure, asupport member on said bearing cage, a bearing in said support member,bolt means in said support member, spring" means surrounding said boltmeans, ears on said bearing cage slidably receiving said bolt means andadapted to urge said spring means and said bolt means in a direction toeifect pressure between said rolls, rollers on said bearing cage means,a latch plate slidably mounted in said support structure, latchingfingers on said latch plate, bearing positioning means for selectivelyengaging said rollers and defining means adapted to receive said fingerswhen said bearing positioning means is in a position to engage saidrollers and to hold said rolls in pressure relationship and spring meansurging said latch plate into latching relationship with said bearingpositioning means.

4. In a wringer mechanism having a support structure and including apair of wringer rolls, bearing means for one of said rolls fixedlysecured on said structure, bearing means for the other of said rollsincluding a bearing cage slidably disposed in said support structure, asupport member on said bearing cage, a bearing in said support member,bolt means in said support member, spring means surrounding said boltmeans, ears on said bearing cage slidably received on said means andadapted to urge said spring means and said bolt means in a direction toeifect pressure between said rolls, rollers on said bearing cage means,bearing positioning cam means adapted to engage said rollers to movesaid bearing support member on said bearing cage downwardly to causesaid rolls to engage in said pressure relationship, a latch plateslidably mounted in said support structure, latch fingers on said latchplate, latch finger receiving means defined by said bearing positioningmeans adapted to receive said fingers when said bearing positioningmeans is in a position to engage said rollers and hold said rolls inpressure relationship, spring means urging said latch plate intolatching relationship with said bearing positioning means, a latchrelease arm on said latch plate, a lever arm pivotally supported on saidsupport structure in engagement with said latch release arm, aconnecting plate secured to the end of said lever arm opposite the endthereof in engagement with said latch release arm, means pivotallysupporting said connecting plate, a rocker arm connected to saidconnecting plate and a manually operable latch release bar connected tosaid rocker arm and adapted to move said rocker arm, said connectingplate and said lever arm for actuating said latch release arm andreleasing said latch fingers from said latch finger receiving means,said bearing positioning means being biased to a position for releasingsaid rolls from said pressure relationship.

5. A wringer mechanism having a support structure and including a pairof wringer rolls, first bearing means for one of said wringer rollsfixedly mounted on said support structure, second bearing means for theother of said wringer rolls movably mounted on said support structure,spring means in said second bearing means urg' ing said second bearingmeans and the wringer roll car ried thereby to a pressure releaseposition, a bearing cage engaging said spring means and adapted to movesaid spring means and said second bearing means to a position whereinsaid wringer rolls are in pressure engagement, a bearing positioningmember having a cam struc ture and a heel plate, means on said bearingcage adapted to be engaged by said cam structure in one position of saidbearing positioning member to move said spring means and said bearingstructure to said position wherein said wringer rolls are in saidpressure engagement, spring means disposed between said heel plate andsaid support structure urging said bearing positioning member to arelease position wherein said cam structure disengages said bearingcage, a cam member pivotally mounted on said support structure andadapted to cam said heel plate and said bearing positioning member tosaid position wherein said cam structure thereof engages said bearingcage to effect said pressure condition of said wringer rolls, a handlepivotally secured to said support structure, a link slidably received insaid handle and pivotally connected to said cam member on said supportstructure effecting carnming engagement of said cam member with saidheel plate when said handle is pivoted out of a release position to anactuating position thereof, power drive means for rotating said wringerrolls, a drive engaging member rotatable to engage or disengage thedrive, a latch adapted to lock or release the drive engaging member,spring means urging the latch to lock the drive engaging member indriving position and a release rod having one end connected to saidbearing positioning member and movable linearly therewith and anotherend cam shaped to engage said latch and move it to release position whensaid bearing positioning member is moved to said release position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS174,463 Baldwin Mar. 7, 1876 355,923 Entrekin Jan. 11, 1887 1,646,601Schroeder Oct. 25, 1927 1,686,119 Beatty Oct. 2, 1928 1,711,619Stroschein May 7, 1929 2,291,916 Parish Aug. 4, 1942 2,327,998 ClausenAug. 31, 1943 2,329,115 Goulooze Sept. 7, 1943 2,369,333 Bottinelli Feb.13, 1945 2,638,768 Etten May 19, 1953 2,865,190 Etten Dec. 23, 1958Patent No 2,962,887 December 6, 1960 Clark I. Platt It is herebycertified'that error ent requiring correction and that the s correctedbelow.

appears in the above numbered pataid Letters Patent should read asColumn 9, line 21, for "said means" read said bolt means Signed andsealed this 20th day of June 19610 (SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST W. SWIDER DAVID L. LADD Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents

